President Klaus has appointed Civic Democrat Martin Kuba to head the
ministry of Trade and Industry, following the resignation of Martin
Kocourek last week. Though Mr Kocourek’s tenure ended amid allegations of
corruption, the new minister was clearly not chosen on the basis of a
controversy-free political history, as Christian Falvey reports. More

On Wednesday evening, following a thirty-hour session and after eleven
hours of opposition filibustering, the lower house passed the draft state
budget for 2012 in its first reading. A majority of 102 deputies for the
centre-right coalition Civic Democrats, TOP 09 and Public Affairs approved
its revenues, expenditures and deficit figures. The draft budget proposes a
deficit of 105 billion crowns, or 3.2 percent of GDP, but could be subject
to changes in January. More

There is general agreement among the country’s parliamentary parties that
the Czech Republic would benefit from a law on national referendums,
however the approval of such a bill is severely hampered by fierce debates
on what issues should be subject to a popular vote. More

Controversial activist Ladislav Bátora has announced he is leaving his
post at the Education Ministry. Earlier this year, his stint at the
ministry became a source of upheaval on the Czech political scene but Mr
Bátora was allowed to remain at the ministry in return for a promise he
would stay away from politics. But on Friday, Ladislav Bátora said he was
no longer willing to keep that promise and wanted to be actively engaged in
public life. Commentator Jiří Pehe thinks he is leaving after his goal
– getting public attention – was fulfilled. More

At one time Jiří Paroubek was one of the most influential politicians in
the country, both as prime minister and as leader of the Social Democratic
Party: but a poorer result than expected in the 2010 national election
spelt his end in the party’s top leadership. Now, the former Social
Democrat is moving to found a new party on the political Left, which could
provide voters with a new alternative. Earlier I discussed the project with
political analyst Vladimíra Dvořáková, who talked about the former party
leader’s possible motivation – as well as whether the new project can
be a success. More

The post of agriculture minister was filled this week as abruptly as it was
vacated with Thursday’s appointment of Civic Democrat Petr Bendl. A close
ally of the prime minister, Mr Bendl is an experienced hand in regional and
ministerial leadership, but his ties to agriculture are non-existent. More

Reports surfaced on Tuesday that a number of representatives of the Czech
Roma community are considering founding a new party focussing on Roma
issues, including how to tackle long-standing social problems and ethnic
tension between communities. Those have grown especially in North Bohemia
in recent weeks. While some, like notable sociologist Ivan Gabal have
praised the project so far – he told a national Czech newspaper such a
party could “change the atmosphere in Czech politics and improve the
social climate”, many others are sceptical, saying like parties before
it, this one too is unlikely to succeed. More

Foreign Minister, and coalition TOP 09 party leader Karel Schwarzenberg has
accused the state-controlled electricity firm ČEZ of bankrolling Czech
political parties. In an interview for the news-website aktualne.cz this
week, Mr Schwarzenberg said it was “a public secret” that ČEZ had
financed parties – except his own group, TOP 09. The serious accusations
– presented with no evidence or further details – were dismissed by
politicians across the board – with the notable exception of František
Bublan, a Social Democrat MP, and former Interior Minister and head of the
Czech intelligence service. But commentator Erik Best believes Mr
Schwarzenberg might have had his very own reasons for speaking out. More

A government proposal seeking direct, popular election of the Czech
president made it through the lower house of Parliament on Tuesday – a
significant success for an idea that lawmakers have dealt with eight times
already. Nevertheless, while the coalition and the opposition may have
reached a rare consensus for the time being, any such change to the
constitution remains fraught by the fact that each party envisions very
different conditions for popular elections, and many pundits and political
scientists see the popular issue as a non-starter. Professor Jiří Pehe of
New York University, for one, tells me the prospect of direct presidential
elections is science fiction. I asked him why. More

A drawn-out government crisis over the controversial head of human
resources at the Czech Education Ministry has been resolved in a most
surprising way. Ladislav Bátora, the figure at the centre of the dispute,
who came under fire for his past links to the extreme Nationalist Party and
for insulting the foreign minister online, has not been sacked but is to be
relocated to the less visible but technically higher position of
vice-chancellor to the education minister. TOP 09 leader Karel
Schwarzenberg, who was insulted by the civil servant in question has
thanked Education Minister Josef Dobeš for his accommodating approach in
the matter, explained that his party’s firm stand was a matter of
principle in combating extremism and promised that the party’s ministers
would no longer boycott cabinet meetings. After two weeks of muscle-flexing
over the fate of a civil servant the government crisis is ostensibly over
– but it has left many people wondering what exactly the dispute was all
about. Radio Prague asked political analyst Petr Just for his take on one
of the most bizarre crises in Czech politics. More